A Sad Story

Toddler Crawled to "Comfort Zone" to Die

In his last moments of life, 16-month-old Benjamin Kingan picked up his blanket and crawled to a chair police later said was his "comfort zone."

It should have been a place where Benjamin would be safe, but police say the woman assigned to care for him at a Lincolnshire day care center, has admitted she killed the little boy by throwing him on the ground on Wednesday.

Lincolnshire police investigator Adam Hyde said after the incident, Benjamin picked up his blanket and his pacifier and went to his favorite bouncy chair, where he was found cuddled up and unresponsive less than half-an-hour later.

Police said the Minee-Subee Day Care Center in Lincolnshire was licensed and had a spotless record.

But they said 22-year-old Melissa Calusinski, an employee at the center, has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held on $5 million bond.

- Associate Press

The twin sister of 16-month-old Benjamin Kingan was in the room when an aide allegedly threw the toddler to the floor of a Lincolnshire day-care center, fatally injuring him, friends and relatives said Monday.

With visitation for the toddler set for today, his parents must not only grapple with losing a child but with how to support a "twinless twin."

- Chicago Sun Times

In lieu of flowers, the Kingan family asks that donations be made to the WINGS domestic violence shelter where the boy’s mother worked, at www.wingsprogram.com.

- Chicago Sun Times

Adjunct Teachers Lost Jobs

Adjunct teachers in some remote country side areas caught national attention two years ago, when a news article revealed their poor living conditions. Many of them were paid on 40 RMB Yuan ($5) monthly salary, while taking the most challenging teaching jobs in remote areas where regular teachers won't go. They received a pay raise to 80 Yuan after the national outcry combined with admiration and sympathy.

They were happy on the pay raise and a promise of converting to regular teachers when time would be right. However, this month the national education ministry announced a policy to remove all adjunct teachers, 440,000 of them, from the education system effective immediately. Some of the adjunct teachers taught for the pleasure or for a belief, and some of them taught because they needed the $10 each month for a living.

All gone.